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International Yearbook of Industrial Statistics launched in Qatar

DOHA, 19 May 2013 - The Minister of Industry and Energy of Qatar, Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada, has expressed his country's interest in continuing the cooperation with UNIDO in order to strengthen the statistical capacity of national and regional institutions in the member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Minister Sada made these remarks while addressing participants at the launch of UNIDO’s flagship publication, the International Yearbook of Industrial Statistics 2013, in Doha, an event organized together with the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC).

Abdulaziz bin Hamad Al-Ageel, GOIC Secretary General, highlighted the increasing cooperation of his organization with UNIDO in the field of industrial statistics.

The presentation of the Yearbook was also attended by the President of the Qatar Statistics Authority and other high-level government officials, as well representatives of the private sector and media.

UNIDO Chief Statistician, Shyam Upadhyaya, made a presentation on major findings of the Yearbook, with a special reference to Qatar and other GCC countries. He noted that, despite the world economic recession, GCC countries have achieved high industrial growth in the last decade. In 2013, manufacturing value added of GCC countries rose by 5.5 per cent compared to 2.2 per cent of the world average.

The GCC represents one of the fastest growing regions of the world in terms of industrial production. Among its members, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are classified as part of the group of industrialized economies in UNIDO Statistics effective 2013, while Saudi Arabia and Oman fall to the group of emerging industrial economies.

While Saudi Arabia accounts for almost half of the industrial output of GCC, smaller economies like Qatar have achieved a higher level of manufacturing value added per capita. The presentation also noted the increasing share of high-tech goods in manufacturing output of GCC countries which used to be predominantly resource-based economy.

In recent years, UNIDO has conducted a number of statistical activities in GCC countries in cooperation with the GOIC, including regional training courses and statistical data exchange. A technical assistance project has been approved this year for Oman with joint funding from the Government of Oman and UNIDO.

For more information on the International Yearbook of Industrial Statistics, please go here